For students who are short on cash but still yearn to visit Pasadena, Calif. to see the Spartans face off in the Rose Bowl, the MSU Federal Credit Union, or MSUFCU, is offering a loan to make that trip possible.
The loan has a minimum amount of $1,000 and can be financed over an 18-month period at an annual percentage rate as low as 6.9 percent. Spartan fans who take out a loan of $1,000 will end up paying $58.64 a month for a total of $55.52 in interest.
A trip to the Rose Bowl will likely cost a traveler far more than $1,000.
PrimeSport, a sports travel planning website, offered a Rose Bowl trip including roundtrip airfare, four-night hotel stay, game ticket, a seat at the Rose Parade, transportation and pre-game hospitality event starting at $3,445 and peaking at $4,135. This package, along with many similar packages, is already sold out.
Whenever bowl games or other events come around, MSUFCU offers loans to finance student’s trips, said Sarah Bohan, MSUFCU vice president of corporate relations.
“The intent is based on our partnership with the university,” Bohan said. “It’s an opportunity for our (credit union) members to support the MSU team.”
“We’re pleased to be able to offer this to members and Spartan fans, especially with this important Rose Bowl game, in a way that many people can go at a low cost,” she said.
Although some students may be willing to take out a loan to see the Spartans play in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1988, others are more skeptical.
“If you want to go to Pasadena, then you shouldn’t have to take out a loan to do it, and if you do then you need to rethink your finances,” James Madison freshman Hannah Hunter said.
“Even if this is somewhat short notice for a trip nearly across the country, going to California isn’t worth a loan, even for a broke college kid,” Hunter said.
She said a decision to take out such a loan doesn’t seem responsible because students would have more loans to cover next to their college loans.
The Rose Bowl loan will be offered by MSU Federal Credit Union until Jan. 31.
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